The Quest for Freedom in The Shawshank Redemption

High-quality dramas in the world of movies have been circulating for several years. A few movies have taken a stab at being among the top sellers to the cinematic audience, such as great films like American Beauty (1999), and Apocalypse Now (1979), both of which were quite popular. Others, however, such as Jennifer Lopez's Gigli (2003) and Cutthroat Island (1995) have not met society's expectations.

With American Beauty, it was the superb directing and the excellent acting that I believe made it a great movie. With Apocalypse Now, the intense action scenes and great acting brought audiences to the theaters.

In 1994, the future of dramatic movies was beginning to look a little brighter than it had in years past. Castle Rock Entertainment and Turner Broadcasting System merged together to create one of the best, if not the best, dramas of all time. They called it The Shawshank Redemption. This movie, starring Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, and Bob Gunton, has it all when it comes to dramatic cinema.

A man by the name of Andy Dufresne (played by Robbins) is falsely convicted of murdering his wife and her lover, and is sentenced to life in the ominous world that is Shawshank State Prison. There Andy befriends a "lifer" named "Red" (played by Freeman), whom, unbeknownst to himself at the time, would ultimately help Andy escape from the prison. To Andy, Red is "a man who knows how to get things." Andy asks for a rock hammer to keep himself busy, and this tool ultimately is the key to Andy's freedom, along with a poster of Raquel Welch, also retrieved by Red.

As I have found, there are several qualifications that make a drama a great one. First, the film must employ above-average character development. Within that development, there must be a conflict, be it internal or external, among the characters. Without the character development, the story line will be quite weak, and will definitely have many holes in it. Also, if character development is lax, this allows no time for the viewers to become empathetic with the movie's characters, and it will prevent any growth of conflict.

Perhaps the most prevalent aspect of Shawshank is its detailing of character development. The entire movie is centered on Andy's life in Shawshank. Every single minute of his life in the prison is vital to the movie's climax, from his initial arrival and run-ins with guards and Warden Norton (Gunton), to his triumphant escape from Shawshank.

Andy is the dominant protagonist in this film, and towards the middle of the movie, Andy slowly becomes the leader of the prison community. He could be called the "brains" of his group of followers, the closest of whom is Red. The movie's writers were careful to make nearly all the main characters equally important to the story. They were careful to incorporate a new character thoroughly into the movie, without simply introducing them and discarding them. Two such characters were Brooks, the prison librarian, and Tommy, the quintessential punk kid, both of who prevailed throughout the movie until toward the end, when they both died.

"Red" Redding is the second main character in this movie, and is Andy's "right-hand man." Red has been at Shawshank too long, and makes several trips to the prison board to attempt to be released of his life term. Red seems to be the wisest of the entire group that hangs around with Andy, and seems to be more cautious and less brazen than Andy.

The antagonist of Shawshank is by far Warden Norton, god of Shawshank. Norton is a fairly religious man, and treats his prison as such, as evident by the framed needle-point on his office wall, which reads, "His judgement Cometh, and that Right soon," as well as his comment to Andy upon Andy's arrival to Shawshank, "I believe in two things, the Bible and discipline. Here you'll receive both." The Warden is also very stern, commandeering, and intimidating. He, like Red, is cautious, always looking behind his back and covering his tracks. The actor portraying Norton has played other "villains" in movies, like Patch Adams, a feature that helps to bring his character in Shawshank alive.

Throughout this movie, Norton is shown as being of a higher class than everyone else, which really accentuates the idea of him being godlike. He is always shown wearing a suit, and no one else wears one.

The second largest aspect that made Shawshank such a great movie was the interaction between the characters and the moviegoers. After I saw the movie a few times to figure out its purpose, I began to feel as though I was right in the jail cell with Andy. Everything that he felt, he was able to convey those feelings to me. As he burst through the sewer pipe outside the prison after his successful escape, and stood up, arms outstretched in the Christ figure, I couldn't help but feel as he did: that he had overcome his greatest obstacle--confinement. With Red, I could empathize with him concerning his feelings of discovering an entirely new world when he left Shawshank, and being a little afraid and cautious of that world. My new world happened to be college. The director of the film helped convey those feelings to me by the music, by the setting, and mostly by the acting.

The conflicts, both internal and external, of the characters also played a very important part in making the movie successful. Andy had many battles with his conscience while imprisoned at Shawshank. He had to spend almost 50 years being as patient as he could possibly be, without going insane, before he even tried to escape. His overwhelming sense of freedom was determined to be his own worst enemy, but Andy persevered. Twice in the movie, Andy is his with a reality check as he loses two of his closer counterparts, Brooks and Tommy. This seemed to have a big effect on Andy, and Red as well.

While he was battling himself, Andy was also battling his antagonists, mainly Warden and the prison staff. They were determined to set Andy in his place, but Andy's senses of justice and freedom were too overwhelming to let the Warden's actions bring him down.

Perhaps his biggest and most stubborn antagonists were the prison walls themselves. Andy took his time overcoming these particular obstacles in his quest for freedom. The Warden tried to cage him, but Andy had too much will power, and all it took, as Red narrated, was a little "pressure and time."

The entire movie had me thinking the whole time, a quality that I believe exists in all great dramas. It made me think of my own freedoms, and how good my life really is. It also made me realize that not everyone has the same definition of freedom. Andy's was triumphing over evil, Red's was gaining his equality, and the Warden's was killing himself at the end of the movie so that society couldn't have that satisfaction.

Overall, Shawshank Redemption beautifully portrays the essentials of a great dramatic movie. Its main theme, "good versus evil," is prevalent throughout the movie, be it via the characters, as Andy gets the better of Norton in the climax; and the plot, as is shown by the conflicts between Norton and Andy, the prison walls and Andy, and the battle between how scary a free life can be, and Brooks. It truly depicts the triumph of the human spirit.

As I watched this movie, I could clearly see evidence of today's society portrayed through the actions and words of the characters. It shows that people can, and often do, overcome their obstacles, which I see a lot of in today's world, one of whom being myself. Perhaps my own experiences with jumping hurdles helped me to identify with this movie so well.

The dominant themes, "good versus evil," and "good overcoming evil," can be seen readily throughout the world today. I believe that our culture today is somewhat fascinated with this theme, as we seem to practice it almost constantly. We seem to need this theme in our lives, as is evidence by all the conflicts that we get into, such as Iraq. Perhaps our fascination with this phenomenon of overcoming adversity is what attracts us to this movie. I don't think that the non-confrontational groups of people would appreciate this movie as much as others. I enjoy it mostly because I believe that it is a smartly performed and directed movie, and because it forces me to think about its purpose.The